Is The Buckingham Murders based on a true story? Inspiration behind the Netflix film

Crime thriller The Buckingham Murders has landed on Netflix, and viewers have been left asking whether the movie is based on real events.

The Buckingham murders premiered at the 67th BFI London Film Festival in October 2023, and is fresh from a theatrical release. Now the crime movie has landed on Netflix, it's really gained traction and attention from global audiences. The story follows British-Indian detective Jass Bhamra, who is grieving the death of her child and takes a job transfer to Buckinghamshire.

Once there, where she is assigned to investigate the the case of missing Indian child, Ishpreet. Navigating unfamiliar investigative protocols and clashes among the local Muslim and Hindu communities, the film tackles a multitude of heavy themes alongside the central story of a missing child. Many recent additions to Netflix are based on real events, including Woman of The Hour, and A Confession. This has left viewers also asking if The Buckingham Murders is based on a true story, and here's what we've found out.

Is The Buckingham Murders based on a true story?

The Buckingham Murders isn't based on a true story, but is inspired by elements of real events. It also takes themes from the Kate Winslet-led series, Mare of Easttown. However, lead actress Kareen Kapoor who plays Jass, wants the film to remain separate from the series.

Speaking to Mashable, she wants viewers to know, "There’s no harm in actors drawing inspiration because every actor needs some sort of motivation. If that motivation comes from another actor, then so be it. Absolutely. It’s flattering to be compared to Mare of Easttown, but this is not Mare of Easttown. It’s adapted from it, yes, but this is a completely different story and film."

The film's conflict between Muslim and Hindu communities is said to have taken inspiration from the 2022 Leicester riots, that saw tensions run to boiling point between young men in British Muslim and British Hindu communities with Indian heritage.

Speaking about this ethnic clash with Majestic Disorder, the film's director, Hansal Mehta, said, "The polarisation and the search for identity has always been a theme in my films from the beginning. It’s a lot about identity and that somewhere people who are searching for their identity and yet have to live life on a day-to-day basis."

He also spoke about the story involving a lot of Indian actors with knowledge of Indian policing, but the story being set in England. Mehta added "Our initial interpretation of the story was based on procedures that we had seen either in films or what we would follow in India. So it was a mix of that, and I realised midway through that, we need to get this checked.

As we went checking the procedural elements, we realised that it’s very different. A detective is not a cop, that’s one of the big differences. So to keep [Kareena’s character] a detective, to show her investigating and yet not being a regular cop, in a uniform with a gun. To have a thriller is more mental than physical."

The Buckingham Murders | Official Trailer - Hindi| Kareena Kapoor K, Ektaa R Kapoor,Hansal M|Sept 13 - YouTube

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The Buckingham Murders: Cast

• Kareena Kapoor Khan as Jasmeet "Jass" Bhamra
• Keith Allen as Miller
• Ranveer Brar as Daljeet Kohli
• Prabhleen Sandhu as Preeti Kohli
• Sarah-Jane Dias as Indrani Rai
• Manish Gandhi as Prithvi
• Ash Tandon as DI Hardik Patel
• Kapil Redekar as Saquib Chaudhary
• Rahul Sidhu as Naved
• Sanjeev Mehra as Kamalpreet Bhamra
• Jonathan Nyati as DS Cowden
• Darren Kemp as DS Simon Clark
• Charles Craddock as James Thomas
• Rukku Nahar as Harleen
• Haqi Ali as Imam
• Adwoa Akoto as DS Sharon Mark

Kareena Kapoor who play Jass, has spoken out about her character being a grieving mother, and how this inspired her performance. She told the press, "I think a mother's love has no language. It's a feeling. So, I think being a mother I understand that a mother's love has no specific language. It's in her eyes - her love, her pain, you can see it in her eyes. That's important."